On April 27, more than 100 attendees gathered in the CU Denver Business School’s Jake Jabs Event Center for the 22nd year of THE CLIMB | Jake Jabs Startup Pitch Competition. The evening event featured live pitch presentations, a distinguished panel of judges, Jake Jabs returning as the keynote speaker, and networking for Colorado’s entrepreneurial community. As the competition’s grand finale, it celebrated the hard work of student teams from across the state that have been developing and validating their ideas since February.  Read more

During the last week of April, more than 60 attendees returned in-person to the CU Denver Business School’s Jake Jabs Event Center for the 21^st year of THE CLIMB | Jake Jabs Business Plan Competition. The two-night event featured live pitch presentations, keynote speakers, a distinguished panel of judges, and networking opportunities open to the entire Denver community.  Read more

Each fall, the Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship hosts Colorado’s most prominent business leaders as part of the Best of Colorado Speaker Series. The series included ten organization leaders and creators from a variety of industry backgrounds.

During these sessions, entrepreneurs shared how and why they started their company, the steps they have taken to develop success, and advice on ways to establish both the ideas and footings needed to be a business owner.  Read more

College students from across Colorado competed in the first all-virtual series for CU Denver’s business plan competition after last year’s COVID-19 hiatus. On Thursday, April 29, more than 150 attendees joined the online event platform Socio to witness aspiring collegiate entrepreneurs compete for cash prizes. Hosted by the Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) Business School, THE CLIMB | Virtual Pitch Night showcased six finalists, four People’s Choice Award contenders, and their business ideas as they pitched to audience members and a live panel of judges.  Read more

“There’s always something interesting happening at Google, and we’re constantly strategizing and building new things,” says Professional MBA alum, Peter Boardman. “Plus, the scale of what I’m working on every day gives me great satisfaction.” Peter’s intellectual curiosity has allowed him to work in diverse industries throughout his career and now he’s found his place at Google.  Read more

Although she didn’t present, Karissa Rund left this year’s Pitch Night as a winner. At the final event for THE CLIMB, a collegiate business plan competition put on by CU Denver’s Jake Jabs for Entrepreneurship, Karissa took home the Social Impact Award for 8 Percent. Her idea wasn’t a product or service though, like those pitched by the other finalists. Instead, it laid out her plan to launch her own book and speaking tour.  Read more

Whitney Setterberg and Peter Boardman, both students in the CU Denver Business School Professional MBA program, won the 2019 CLIMB Business Plan Competition on April 25 when they pitched their peer-to-peer storage service called STOWED. THE CLIMB, an annual event put on by Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship, is designed to help student entrepreneurs transform their ideas into viable businesses through education, mentorship, networking, and financial support.  Read more